The Univision news crew briefly detained in Venezuela Monday angered embattled President Nicolas Maduro when they showed him a video of young people eating from a garbage truck amid a widespread food shortage in the country.
Veteran news anchor Jorge Ramos said that Maduro didn’t like being asked about “the lack of democracy, about the torture of political prisoners, about the humanitarian crisis” during a 7 p.m. interview at his palace in Caracas.
But it was the cellphone clip that prompted the sudden end to the interview.
“He tried to block the video with his hand, and he stood up and walked away,” Ramos told Univision via phone from his hotel.
Then, one of Maduro’s ministers said the interview wasn’t authorized and the news crew, including Ramos and five other journalists, were put into separate dark rooms and questioned.
They were released two and a half hours later but their belongings — including their cellphones and footage of the interview — were confiscated, Ramos said.
“It was a total violation of the freedom of expression, of human rights, of the principles of all journalists,” Ramos said. “They think the interview is theirs, not ours. And they’re robbing us of our job.”